


The Fate of the Ring

by Gemstarzah



Series: Elrond's Hearts [5]
Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-06
Updated: 2015-05-17
Packaged: 2018-03-10 18:57:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3300161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gemstarzah/pseuds/Gemstarzah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As the time draws near for the council to decide the fate of the ring, many things are set in motion. <br/>Elrond has many things to decide, and some of the decisions are not made lightly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. An Early Unexpected Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> Originally meant to be a one shot. Something happened

Elrond sighed as he walked out onto the balcony of his suite once more. It had become a habit now, of sitting out in the last of the sun, looking in the direction of Mirkwood these days. He missed his lover, but he knew eventually they would be together again. It was not as though he was unused to being separated from the one he loved.

 _I wonder how Legolas is coping, being all the way in Mirkwood._ _He has not been in this situation before._ Legolas was only young, and Elrond could well remember what it was like at first for himself, when he was away from Ereinion. _I hope he is alright._

Later that night, after a few hours spent in the Halls of Fire with his friends, family, and guests, Arwen being in Lothlórien again, but due home in a few days’ time, he was walking back to his own chambers, when he heard hooves coming towards him as he crossed the courtyard.

Elrond paused. _Who is arriving at this time?_ It was well after dark, but his wait was rewarded not long after he stopped, for he soon made out a rider with pale hair. He knew it was not Glorfindel, for the Balrog Slayer was in the Halls of Fire.

The horse slid to a stop near him, and the rider dismounted. The rider almost would have blended in with the night, if not for the golden hair, and the bright blue eyes that were looking directly at Elrond. Not to mention the white horse one which he had arrived. 

Elrond’s eyes widened. “Legolas?” He knew it was him, but what was he doing here, unannounced, arriving after dark? _Am I really seeing him now?_ _Or have I drunk too much Murivor?_

The golden haired elf smiled, before walking over, and folding his arms around Elrond. Soft, familiar lips descended upon Elrond’s, and he yielded, returning the kiss. Yes, it was Legolas. No other ellon would dare to kiss him, knowing that he had bonded with Legolas.

Elrond could feel the need and longing Legolas had, and he smiled. “Come melleth-nin. You must be weary from your journey, but where are your guards?”

“They told me to head on ahead, and that they would arrive come morning. They understood why I did not wish to stop this night and make a camp site.”

Elrond smiled. “Foolish, but I can understand the want to head on when you know your lover is close.” After all, he had once done the same thing, back when he was much younger and in love with Ereinion. He kissed Legolas again. “And so, here I am. Come.”

Taking Legolas’ hand, he led the younger elf through the house to his own suite. One which had only ever housed him since Celebrían sailed and when Legolas was not visiting. Once Legolas was inside, he locked the door to the corridor, and made sure that the one to his balcony was locked as well.

“Don’t need any of my children coming in, do we?”

“Nay, certainly not.”

Elrond smiled, before walking over and wrapping his arms around Legolas. “You needed me, didn’t you?”

“That, and I was sent by my Adar for your council,” Legolas replied.

Elrond smiled. “Well then, by all means, take me.”

Legolas frowned. “I couldn’t.” He went red.

Elrond chuckled. Well, if his lover wouldn’t take him, then he would sort that side of things out himself. He had the same want in him that he knew Legolas would. “Why don’t you get undressed and join me on the bed? Let me love you.”

He would be able to give Legolas the pleasure he sought but was so uneasy about causing. It was not something he could be shy about, even if he wanted to. No he had done this too many times.

Boots, tunics and leggings were soon scattered on the floor of Elrond's chambers before the two male elves were on the bed. Elrond smiled, leaning over Legolas to kiss him. Soon, his younger lover would be feeling much more relaxed and happy. Though perhaps also a little sore, but that was something Legolas was used to by now. Certainly, he would not be riding away tomorrow, but then, with the council tomorrow, there would be no need for Legolas to go anywhere.

Legolas returned the kiss, and Elrond smiled, as he did.

Elrond's hand found one of Legolas' nipples and he teased it with his fingers, until Legolas moaned into his mouth. Elrond's eyes darkened at the sound, and he nipped at Legolas' lower lip, asking him to let him in. His fingers shifted to Legolas’ other nipple as he managed to get his tongue into Legolas’ mouth.

Elrond smiled when Legolas moaned into him again, he could feel his own length hardening. One of Legolas’ hands found his nipple and that certainly got his attention, even as he nipped at the princeling’s ear. Elrond moaned slightly at his young lover’s touch.

“Glad to see you doing something at least,” he murmured, nipping at that ear again.

He promised himself that he would never want to hear that Legolas did not want him. That was something that would break him.


	2. Council Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the fabled council to decide the Fate of the Ring is begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bolded parts are taken directly from the Fellowship of the Ring and do not belong to me!

There was a sense of foreboding in the air the next morning when Elrond moved through his household. Legolas had gone to spend a little while with the twins, before he came to the council that Elrond had mentioned that he would like him to be present at.

 _The One Ring is within my grasp, but, I dare not attempt to take it, or use it._ That would reveal all he sought to conceal from Sauron, had Elrond chosen to use it. Yes, he had seen the ring upon Glorfindel’s return with the injured hobbit, Frodo. As soon as he had laid eyes on it, Elrond had known that it was the ring.

He remembered only too well the power concealed in so small a thing. He knew how devastating that ring could be in the hands of the enemy. _No one can use that ring other than Sauron._ It could be the only reason why Bilbo still looked as young as he was now. _Hobbits do not age so slowly, naturally. I knew there was something that had to have slowed down his visible aging._

Elrond returned to his chambers, knowing that the council would soon be upon them, at which time, he would hear out the tales of all the people who arrived of late. There were many who had come, and he had sent word to those whom he wanted to attend, though he had also asked that the message be passed on discreetly. _The whole valley need not know what we are meeting to discuss_. The less people who knew the One Ring was here in Rivendell, the better.

Elrond changed into a dark burgundy robe, checked his hair was neat and that his circlet on his head was straight, before walking toward the porch he had chosen. Most did not go there, and he had made sure there were no Hobbit’s hiding anywhere before having it closed off from everyone.

Getting there, he saw that Glorfindel had arrived, as had Erestor, and Galdor Inglorion.

“It’s been a long time since I last saw you, Galdor.”

Galdor nodded. “I wouldn’t be here now, mellon-nin if Círdan hadn’t needed to send a messenger. It has been a long time indeed.”

Elrond walked over to seat himself, watching as people came in. Aragorn soon arrived, as well as Legolas and several other elves. Then Gimli and his father Gloin, Elrond noted the sudden look of irritation that flashed across Legolas’ face for a moment before it vanished. _He’s going to have to hold his tongue._ Gloin likewise did not seem pleased to see Legolas. Seemed he remembered him. Then Boromir arrived, and once more, Elrond wondered why he had been sent from Gondor. It was a long way after all.

At last, Mithrandir arrived, and with him, came Bilbo and Frodo.

As he introduced Frodo to the others, he noticed that Boromir in particular seemed to look at the two hobbits with sudden wonder.

Much was said about happenings in all the lands, until it came to Gloin. This was when the first of the important things seemed to Elrond to begin being discussed. Gloin spoke of disease over the dwarves of Erebor, and that some considered reclaiming Moria. At which point Elrond would have winced, had it been proper. He knew what ‘Durin’s Bane’ referred to. There was a Balrog down in the deeps of the dwarf kingdom.

Balin it seemed had gone to Moria with two others Elrond remembered meeting, Ori and Oin, as well as many other dwarves. Gloin mentioned how things had fallen silent when ti came to word from Moria, over the past thirty years. Then of a messenger of Mordor, at which Elrond started, not thrilled to hear of this in the slightest.

**“And so, at last I have been sent by Dain to warn Bilbo that he is sought by the Enemy, and to learn, if may be, why he desires this ring, this least of rings. Also we crave the advice of Elrond. For the Shadow grows and draws nearer. We discover that messengers have come also to King Brand in Dale, and that he is afraid. We fear that he may yield. Already war is gathering on his eastern borders. If we make no answer, the Enemy may move Men of his rule to assail King Brand, and Dain also.”**

That at least was simple enough for Elrond to answer. He knew the answers that Dain sought would be revealed as the council went on, for he knew the dwarves were involved in the fate of the One Ring, having lost the seven dwarf rings mentioned by Gloin in part to Sauron.

**“You have done well to come,” Elrond replied. “You will hear today all that you need in order to understand the purposes of the enemy. There is naught that you can do, other than to resist, with hope or without it. But you do not stand alone. You will learn that your trouble is but a part of the trouble of all the western world. The Ring! What shall we do with the Ring, the least of rings, the trifle that Sauron fancies? That is the doom that we must deem.”**

He paused for a moment.

**“that is the purpose for which you are called hither. Called, I say, though I have not called you to me, strangers from distant lands. You have come and are here met, in this very nick of time, by chance as it may seem. Yet it is not so. Believe rather that it is so ordered that we, who sit here, and none others, must now find council for the peril of the world.”**

Once more Elrond paused, to consider his next words.

**“Now, therefore, things shall be openly spoken that have been hidden from all but a few until this day. And first, so that all must understand the peril, The Tale of the Ring shall be told from the beginning even to this present. And I will begin that tale, though others shall end it.”**


	3. The Fellowship Created

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wait a minute...didn't Legolas just arrive?

While at times, speaking of his own past would not have been easy to do while keeping a straight face, and he doubted either of the hobbits, or the humans at least, would realise. Elrond spoke of the times that he’d lived through in the First Age, and explained about Morgoth, as well as that Sauron had learnt from him. He told of the forging of the rings, noticing the recognition on Gloin’s face as he did. Seemed they were not forgotten by the dwarves, though Gimli seemed a bit less forthcoming.

After that, he told of the end of the Second Age, and all that had been lost in the wars against Sauron, including the failure to destroy the ring then and there.

"I have seen three ages in the West of the world, and many defeats, and many fruitless victories. Fruitless did I call the victory of the last Alliance? Not wholly so, yet it did not achieve its end. Sauron was diminished, but not destroyed. His Ring was lost but not unmade. The Dark Tower was broken, but its foundations were not removed; for they were made with the power of the Ring, and while it remains they will endure. For in the days of Isildur the Ruling Ring passed out of all knowledge, and the Three were released from its dominion. But now in this latter day they are in peril once more, for to our sorrow the One has been found."

Gandalf spoke as well, as did Bilbo, of their parts in the One Ring’s discovery and journey to Rivendell.

Aragorn mentioned hunting Gollum, and leaving him in the hands of the elves of Mirkwood.

“Alas! Alas!” Legolas spoke now, and the distress in his expression startled Elrond. “The tidings that I was sent to bring must now be told. They are not good, but only here have I learnt how evil they may seem to this company. Smeagol, who is now called Gollum, has escaped.”

“Escaped?” cried Aragorn. “That is ill news indeed. We shall all rue it bitterly, I fear. How came the folk of Thranduil to fail in their trust?”

“Not through lack of watchfulness,” Legolas replied; “but perhaps through over-kindliness. And we fear that the prisoner had aid from others, and that more is known of our doings than we could wish. We guarded this creature day and night, at Gandalf’s bidding, much though we wearied of the task. But Gandalf bade us hope still for his cure, and we had not the heart to keep him ever in the dungeons under the earth, where he would fall back into his old black thoughts.”

Elrond knew the Ring needed to be revealed now. “You will unite or you will fall. Each race is bound to this fate–this one doom.” Pausing he gestured to the pedestal in the middle of the chamber. “Bring forth the Ring, Frodo. “

Frodo rose, slowly, to place to ring where Elrond had said. Almost as soon as he sat down, many in the chamber started to whisper amongst themselves.

“So it is true.”

Elrond knew that was Boromir of Gondor speaking.

“The Doom of Men…” another human whispered.

Elrond watched as Boromir rose, stepping closer to the ring as he spoke. “In a dream, I saw the Eastern side grow dark but in the West a pale light lingered. A voice was crying: ‘Your doom is near at hand. Isildur’s Bane is found.”

He reached for the Ring.

Elrond swiftly stood, speaking in a warning tone. “Boromir!”

“Ash nazg durbatuluk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatuluk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul!”

Those words, in the Black Speech of Mordor, which Elrond hoped never to hear in Imladris, made him sit down just as fast as he’d stood up, his head in his hands for a few moments as the sky darkened. There was something painful in those words, but then again, anything linked to Sauron was. When Gandalf finished speaking, and the sky lightened, Elrond turned his eyes on the Istari.

“Never before has any voice uttered the words of that tongue here in Imladris.”

Gandalf’s tone was gruff. “I do not ask your pardon, Master Elrond, for the Black Speech of Mordor may yet be heard in every corner of the West! The Ring is altogether evil.”

“It is a gift! A gift to the foes of Mordor! Why not use this Ring?” He paced. “Long has my father, the Steward of Gondor, kept the forces of Mordor at bay. By the blood of our people are your lands kept safe! Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy. Let us use it against him.”

 _Well, you’re persistant, aren’t you, son of Denethor?_ Elrond knew as well as any that no one but Sauron could really use the Ring to do their will. That was not something even the elves were capable of.

Aragorn was swift to counter Boromir’s words. “You cannot wield it! None of us can. The One Ring answers to Sauron alone. It has no other master.”

“And what would a ranger know of this matter?”

Anger seemed to flare on Legolas’ face as he roe to his feet. “This is no mere ranger. He is Aragorn, son of Arathorn. You owe him your allegiance.”

“Aragorn?” Disbelievingly, Boromir turned to look at Aragorn. “This… is Isildur’s heir?”

Legolas again spoke. “And heir to the throne of Gondor.”

“Havo dad Legolas,” Aragorn commented.

“Gondor has no King. Gondor needs no king.” Boromir sat down with a sigh.

“Aragorn is right. We cannot use it,” Gandalf spoke.

Time to make sure everyone knew the only option they really had now. Elrond had known it ever since Ereinion Gil-Galad and Elendil had fallen trying to take the ring from Sauron, though it hurt to think of his former High-King. He’d made himself a promise before leaving that battlefield.

“You have only one choice. The Ring must be destroyed.”

“What are we waiting for?” the youngest dwarf, Gimli spoke, rising from his seat with his axe in hand.

Before the axe even struck at the ring, Elrond knew it would not be even scratched. The axe on the other hand, shattered, Gimli falling backwards.

“The rings cannot be destroyed, Gimli, son of Gloin by any craft that we here possess. The Ring was made in the fires of Mount Doom. Only there can it be unmade. It must be taken deep into Mordor and cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came. One of you must do this.”

The silence his own words caused was one the like of in a graveyard.

“One does not simply walk into Mordor. Its black gates are guarded by more than just orcs. There is evil there that does not sleep. And the great Eye is ever watchful. It is a barren wasteland. Riddled with fire and ash and dust. The very air you breathe is a poisonous fume. Not with ten thousand men could you do this. It is folly!”

Boromir again being a fool in places.

Legolas stood up once more. “Have you heard nothing Lord Elrond has said? The Ring must be destroyed!”

This time, Gimli leapt to his feet. “And I suppose you think you’re the one to do it?!”

Boromir joined them on his feet. “And if we fail, what then?! What happens when Sauron takes back what is his?!”

“I will be dead before I see the Ring in the hands of an elf!”

Well, that was certainly rude of Gimli. Fortunately, it was the other elves of Mirkwood, who had come with Legolas that rose to shout at the dwarves, though Elrond saw Legolas trying to stop them from starting a fight.

“Never trust an elf!”

“Do you not understand that while we bicker among ourselves, Sauron’s power grows?! None can escape it!”

Elrond was not pleased by this turn of events at all. He had invited these people because he felt they were the right ones to do so. Now he found himself starting to think he had made a mistake when it came to some of them.

“I will take it! I will take it!”

The silence that came from the voice of a hobbit, Frodo, was surprising. It seemed they were finally getting somewhere.

While Elrond did not mind who were with him, he was a bit shocked when he heard Legolas.

“And you have my bow.”

Elrond could have groaned. He did not like the idea of Legolas heading out into the unknown.

“And my axe!”

Elrond did wince this time, at the dark looks exchanged by Legolas and Gimli, though he knew it was Gimli’s tone of voice that caused it.

The hobbits all appeared, causing some surprise amongst all who had gathered as it was. For not one of them had been invited other than Bilbo and Frodo. Elrond knew each would have their own part to play though, so how could he deny any of them?

“Nine companions… So be it! You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Havo dad, Legolas - Sit Down, Legolas.


End file.
